Are us Libertarians worrying too much about the Presidency?

Are we though? Is it about the message or the man?


January 21st, 2012

I really like Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. I don't really know if I like the supporters. Yes, even I sometimes post way too many videos and seem to act as if I have all the answers. That's why as I watched the results in South Carolina I realized.... same shit different cycle.

You have to wonder, are we that naive to think that a man who people reject on sight really has a shot. You can blame the media, you can blame the establishment or you could blame the bilderberg group...... it doesn't answer the true question. Why are people rejecting the "message of liberty?" Maybe they are just rejecting the smug attitude we as Paul supporters give off. Maybe we focus way too much on one man.

That's why I am taking into consideration the 5 point Nate Nelson at United Liberty wrote this week. His article "5 Changes Libertarians Should Embrace After Yesterday’s Anti-SOPA/PIPA Protests" is pretty much dead on the money. It's really about issues with me and it should be with you.

Lord knows I am tired of defending candidates baggage or a bad interview. That's why these 5 tips are critical:

1. Libertarians should shift focus to attacking corporatism. As proponents of free market economics libertarians rightly oppose socialism, which we will define very simplistically as management of the market by a labor-controlled government. Whatever the evils of socialism — and there are many — it has not been the principal opposition to free market economics in the United States. Instead, for the better part of a century we have endured a corporatist economy. Corporatism, again defined very simplistically, is management of the market by a corporate-controlled government.

We began to see signs that Americans were awakening to the reality of a corporatist economy when the Tea Party movement sprang forth in protest against the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bank bailouts, the auto industry bailouts, the pork-laden Obama stimulus package, and ObamaCare. We saw rage against corporatism erupt again in a more left-wing manner with the advent of the Occupy Wall Street movement. And corporatism is at the very heart of the SOPA/PIPA controversy. Yes, many tech and web corporations were involved in yesterday’s protests; but other corporate interests, such as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), have been among SOPA/PIPA’s most vocal supporters. That’s the nature of corporatism. Some corporations that are willing and able to pay to play control government, which in turn manages the market on their behalf.

Libertarians believe in free markets, and where socialism rears its ugly head we should stand ready to oppose it. But as more and more Americans acknowledge the reality of corporatism, we must also be prepared to attack the corporatist status quo and insist that the free market offers a better alternative not only for business but also for labor.

2. Libertarians shouldn’t be afraid to run for office as champions of civil liberties. Conventional wisdom tells us that it’s a bad idea for political candidates to run as champions of civil liberties. Sure, candidates should give civil liberties a passing nod; but poll after poll shows that Americans are more concerned about the economy, fiscal issues, and foreign policy. A candidate who runs as a civil liberties advocate, we’re told, won’t be embraced by voters who are more concerned with other matters.

It’s time for libertarian political candidates to put this conventional wisdom to the test by running as fierce defenders of civil liberties. Americans may not express much concern about civil liberties in polls, but yesterday proves that citizens who are well informed will still fight back when a real threat to their civil liberties presents itself. The best way to inform voters about threats to their civil liberties is to run campaigns that promise to fight those threats and to roll back policies that have already eroded the Bill of Rights. As an added bonus, libertarian candidates can accurately blame mainstream politicians in both parties for illiberal policies — all the while pointing to themselves as the only viable alternative.

3. Libertarians should continue to work with other grassroots activists but should avoid entangling alliances with the two parties and competing ideologies. Many libertarians are coming around to the idea that the fusionist alliance with Republican conservatives isn’t always beneficial. The time for libertarians to sit back while conservatives dictate the Republican Party’s policy positions — particularly on foreign policy, domestic security, and social issues — has come to an end. Moreover, yesterday’s protests proved that there are real opportunities for libertarians to work with progressive (or, if you prefer, liberal) activists on issues over which we share common ground. Progressive figures like Ralph Nader, Michael Moore, and Cornel West have stood shoulder to shoulder with libertarians to fight SOPA/PIPA and progressives are growing increasingly disenchanted with the Democratic Party.

I’m not saying that libertarians shouldn’t work with conservatives or even that libertarian political candidates shouldn’t run as Republicans. Rather, I’m arguing that we shouldn’t limit ourselves to these meager means in pursuit of liberty’s ends. We shouldn’t be afraid to disagree with conservatives, to distance ourselves from the Republican Party when necessary, or to work with progressives. And we shouldn’t automatically dismiss a libertarian who works within the Democratic Party or a libertarian candidate running as a Green without hearing him or her out first.

4. Libertarians should put as much time and energy into developing and promoting big ideas as is put into political campaigns. Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and Gary Johnson, among others, have all fought for libertarian principles and deserve our support despite their flaws. But an argument could be made that libertarians have become too involved in political campaigning. In a sense, this is understandable as threats to liberty from mainstream Democrats and Republicans have exponentially increased over the course of the past decade. There is a growing feeling among libertarians — and others — that if we don’t do something to correct our course soon, calamity will ensue and the very future of our nation may be jeopardized.

It’s nevertheless true that libertarians must once again put time and energy into developing and promoting big ideas. We can and should support candidates who argue, for example, that we should abolish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and allow the market to do its job. But we should also explain how environmental protection fits into a free market. Yesterday taught us that Americans are often inclined toward a freer market, but they’re going to want to know how they will be protected from poisoned water and hazardous air pollution without the EPA. It’s our job to tell them how that might work.

5. Libertarians must reach out to women, people of color, and other socially and economically disadvantaged people. Some perceive libertarianism as a philosophy that may work very well for socially and economically advantaged white men but not very well for women, people of color, and other socially and economically disadvantaged people. This is very often the argument that our progressive opponents use against us. This argument will continue to be effective only for as long as libertarians allow it to be by refusing to tackle it head on.

So, this blog will still pimp out Ron, Rand and whoever else is running for office we agree with. Although now it's time to focus on issues. Also, not only GOP issues either. There are places where we cross over with liberals (The new ones). Don't worry, I'm not going to be a hippie or anything. But aren't we done with complaining about the guy in the White House when the guys the GOP are nominating are no different? Aren't democrats tired of defending Obama for having the same pro-war, crony capitalist style of Presidency we saw the 8 years prior?